Hambone Springs and Bagby Hot Springs, Part Two

We arrived at Hambone Springs, a more or less abandoned campground at about 4600'. We pulled in and were the only Vanagon in sight, Gypsie hadn't shown up yet, and we were water-cooled. We had our picture taken as we drove in a were greeted warmly by everyone.

We stretched a bit and unloaded some of the firewood we brought. Then I moved the van down a tiny, rough, camp road to it's end--the last "campsite." We secluded ourselves a bit, being self-conscious of having SO many kids that could potentially irritate other campers. It was a wonderful site with a nice big fire ring. We set up camp and made some homemade quick chili and turkey dogs.

Eliot called it a night and Sommer helped her to bed while Bos, Sis and I wandered down to the big fire in the center of the campground for some socializin' and guitar pickin'. Bos and Syd only lasted a few minutes down there and then headed back to the tent to sleep. I stayed and picked along with Gypsie for a bit then called it a night as well.

The next morning we got up and made some bacon and eggs and headed down to the springs.



It was a very beautiful walk, not really a hike only being 1/8 mile. The water was clear and cold and delicious, though here in Bend we are spoiled with some of the best city water around.

We sat around lazily most of the day Saturday. There was a great jam session around dinner time, some wonderful food, a couple beers and more great stories.
We headed back to Totoro for some sleep and woke the next morning to a bit of fog and mist.

We made some pancakes and packed up camp. We said our thank yous and goodbyes and started back up the Abbot Road. Syd took some great black and white pictures on the way up the gnarly, rocky path.




In the left hand bottom corner of that last picture, you can just see the edge of the road. We headed back down Abbot Road and instead of going back the way we came to HWY 26, we turned southwest toward HWY 224 and Estacada.

Hambone Springs and Bagby Hot Springs Trip, Part One

Last Father's Day we loaded up Totoro and headed to Maupin for the Deschutes River RendezVW, a Volkswagen meet. It was a blast! While there I learned of a forum on the interweb called Itinerant-Air-Cooled.com. Now, Totoro is water-cooled, not air-cooled, but I met some wonderful people in Maupin and wanted to keep in touch so I signed up for IAC. Through IAC I've met a bunch of new people, all VW crazed airheads. This last weekend, a trip was planned to Hambone Springs.

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We decided it was doable and I let the forum know that we were on our way.

We loaded Totoro with the camping gear and a bunch of really dry lodgepole pine and left Bend, heading north on HWY 97 through Redmond and Madras. We had the curtains up so the kids could watch their DVD. After topping of the tank (Totoro's gas gauge is a bit optimistic sometimes and the speedo/odo are inop at the moment) we continued on 26 out of Madras and went through the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

After leaving the high desert, we made the familiar, twisty climb up toward Mt. Hood. Instead of traveling all the way to Gov't Camp and on to Portland like we normally do, we turned left onto Skyline Road.

And Climbed. . .

And Climbed. . .
This is where I took the shot of Mt. Hood



It was surprisingly smooth for about the first 16 or 17 miles, then after we turned onto Abbot Rd. things got a bit bumpier.


Abbot Road is an interesting drive. You head through the forest like the shot above and then you realize to the left of you the ground has dropped father and father away until you are looking at the tops of trees and then way over the tops of trees. I don't have many pictures of it because it was soooo narrow and rocky I was concentrating pretty hard. It's basically a controlled fall: first gear, clutch in, ride the brake, crawl over rocks and the occasional tree. Sommer at this time was having really sharp pains, the baby did not like all the jostling. We took a few breaks coming down the Abbot Road before it smoothed out a bit, just as we arrived at Hambone Springs.

Yay! Totoro has a blog!

This is Totoro's first blog. This blog will serve to keep friends and family up to date with the adventures of Totoro, our beloved 1984 Volkwagen Vanagon GL.